Might we use this thread to discuss windows 8 or should I start a new one? I don't mean to complain but to discuss and share new tips since its so fundamentally different. I've been relearning all the keyboard navigation shortcuts and watching tutorial videos but there is allot of unnecessary stuff in there so if we could share some of the greatest hits that would be great.

So they basically changed ALL the keyboard shortcuts etc. and YES you can find them listed in a rather boring form on some websites out there if you Google for them but has anyone picked up interesting tips on how to use them in interesting ways that perhaps expand or increase functionality in clever ways??? So much has changed its more than can be encapsulated in a simple article or blog post. I mean beyond simple tiles the way you can cross pollinate tiles and desktop functionality or how tiles work with multi-monitor setups.

This is my single biggest tip for Windows 8 since it addresses the most common complaint - the lack of the Start Menu:

Windows Key, then start typing the name of the program or windows feature you want to use, or anything else you want to do on your PC. That's it.

Windows Vista and 7 have basically the same feature (although the search wasn't quite as wide) and I think it went underused by people who were used to using the Start menu the old-fashioned way. Windows Key + typing is vastly more efficient. I pretty much never use the Start Menu folder hierarchy in Windows 7, everything is either Win Key + type or a shortcut in a folder on the desktop to organize and if I don't feel like typing It's seriously time to get over the lack of the Start Menu, I wager very few people use the majority of it anyway.

Any plans to fix the issues with the tile-interface/multi-tasking ya know. When you have a tile app on the side of a monitor and then launch the tile interface on another monitor it drops the side loaded app on the first monitor.

I would simply put it that desktop as desktop is great, and tiles as tiles/start screen is adequate to decent. Mixing the two is not advised.

Sadly the tile interface doesn't play well with multi-monitor, atleast we got a way better wallpaper manager.

For the metro/modern UI there is limited multitasking - you can make programs take up a sert amount of screen space. Of course programs can run actively in the background too which is also less limited than many mobile OSes.

I really hate to say it as a long-term hater of the Metro UI (yes I know it's not called that anymore). When's the last time you actually used the start menu to manually look for anything? If you have that's pretty you're a chump since you could type the name of the program and hit enter and it'd search for it and instantly find it. I stopped complaining about Win 8 when I realized it is an identical key input. It looks different yeah, but it's literally 'hit win key, type, see program you're looking for'. Everything in the back-end about win 8 is better, just the UI looks different... but works the same. I've tried to avoid Metro as much as possible, but sometimes it's just easier when I hear the email notification to hit the Windows key and see check my gmail than clumsily type out a response after hunting down my phone. I'm not advocating win 8 over win 7 if you're already running it, but people need to get over the UI and realize how they actually use the OS.

*My comment is specifically towards people on this site and not their grandmother that can't deal with (non)change, or friends and family that can't handle their desktop not being an XP clone, good luck with that*

Click either the lower left (Start Screen) corner of Windows 8 or the top right corner (Previous Application fast-switch) and then start dragging the mouse pointer either up or down along the left-hand side of the screen, and a "recent applications" list will pop out. It includes both Desktop and Metro apps.

MadManOriginal wrote:This is my single biggest tip for Windows 8 since it addresses the most common complaint - the lack of the Start Menu:

Windows Key, then start typing the name of the program or windows feature you want to use, or anything else you want to do on your PC. That's it.

Windows Vista and 7 have basically the same feature (although the search wasn't quite as wide) and I think it went underused by people who were used to using the Start menu the old-fashioned way. Windows Key + typing is vastly more efficient. I pretty much never use the Start Menu folder hierarchy in Windows 7, everything is either Win Key + type or a shortcut in a folder on the desktop to organize and if I don't feel like typing It's seriously time to get over the lack of the Start Menu, I wager very few people use the majority of it anyway.

Pretty much this. I havent used Win8 yet, but there is some things that Win 7 does well, and from the start menu, my usual things are... press button, use shortlist entry. And why do I use this... becuse I have some lesser used programs that I use just not enough to have them pinned to the taskbar, but often enough so I dont want to have to search or bury them in menus. And no, I just dont have anything at all on the desktop. Everything else... win + start typing name, and I've done so since vista started with it, but especially in win 7 it's very nice.

So I recently upgraded my livingroom pc to Win8 (from Vista, thanks SSK), and I have some questions/concerns/complaints.

When the computer first starts up, why doesn't the windows key or escape key take me to the desktop? Once I've been to the desktop, it works just fine, but it won't do it the first time.

How come the metro music app can't see DLNA shares? MS spent so much time and effort trying to get people to use the WMP sharing thing, and now their own app can't even see them.

I'm probably being blind, but I don't see how to put the computer to sleep/suspend.

Also, I wish the start screen had 360 controller support. I don't want full mouse emulation from the controller because that leads to other problems, but it would be nice to move around metro with a controller.

Bob, sleep is under the power options accessed under settings by dragging your mouse to the right edge of the screen. As far as built in tile picture viewer, music manager etc. they are a complete mess. Don't use them if you don't have too. Get xbmc, and be done with metro for your htpc

When the computer first starts up, why doesn't the windows key or escape key take me to the desktop? Once I've been to the desktop, it works just fine, but it won't do it the first time.

Win+D will take you to the desktop. If the desktop tile is the first tile, just hitting enter right after start up will run it. I believe the Win key just toggles between start screen and most recent app, so when you've selected the desktop, it'll toggle, but I wouldn't treat it as a "go to desktop" button.

I'm probably being blind, but I don't see how to put the computer to sleep/suspend.

They're with the "power" button, under charm->setting. If it doesn't automatically give you the options, maybe right click it?

kamikaziechameleon wrote:Bob, sleep is under the power options accessed under settings by dragging your mouse to the right edge of the screen. As far as built in tile picture viewer, music manager etc. they are a complete mess. Don't use them if you don't have too. Get xbmc, and be done with metro for your htpc

I am using xbmc anyways, but I thought I would give the MS apps a tryout. I just wish Steam and XMBC could be integrated. That would be my dream HTPC.

PixelArmy wrote:

When the computer first starts up, why doesn't the windows key or escape key take me to the desktop? Once I've been to the desktop, it works just fine, but it won't do it the first time.

Win+D will take you to the desktop. If the desktop tile is the first tile, just hitting enter right after start up will run it. I believe the Win key just toggles between start screen and most recent app, so when you've selected the desktop, it'll toggle, but I wouldn't treat it as a "go to desktop" button.

That's pretty ugh.

I'm probably being blind, but I don't see how to put the computer to sleep/suspend.

They're with the "power" button, under charm->setting. If it doesn't automatically give you the options, maybe right click it?